


Sharpest eyes on the Podium

by reaperion



Category: BNA: Brand New Animal (Anime)
Genre: M/M, election stuff, i don't know what i'm doing anymore, owl man - Freeform, those two aren't romantically involved don't worry, threat of prostitution I guess?, trust me - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-27
Updated: 2020-09-27
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:15:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26677285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reaperion/pseuds/reaperion
Summary: Usual copyright stuffs about BNA, I don't own it nor claim to own it, please don't sue me Netflix.Also, this is basically derived from that one subplot where the yakuza were kidnapping kids? (you know what I mean, right?), and I'm pretty much freeballing it from there. If my use of honorifics (which I'm pretty sure I've done incorrectly) offends anyone, I will gladly remove them without any fuss.
Kudos: 1





	Sharpest eyes on the Podium

Sharpest eyes on the podium

Running a political campaign, is difficult. This may be no surprise, but it only becomes more difficult with my particular backlog of secrets, but I’m not exactly the type to spill all of them on first meeting. For now, all you need to know is that my name is Fukuru Hanaka, and I’m one of the current political candidates for the prime minister of Japan. I was born in Iwate prefecture, and I’m currently 29 years of age. 

Physically speaking, I’m skinny, with sandy brown hair and glasses to help with my farsightedness. My campaign, currently, is based on promises of economic stability and increased rights for disparaged beastmen. They’re still not protected in most cases of law, and something needs to be done about it.

“Hanaka-sama, you’re on in ten” one of the organisers of the debate said, snapping me out of my stupor of thought. I blinked a few times, adjusted my glasses and nodded,

“Thank you” I said, giving my tie one last adjustment before following the man out, through the corridors of the building and onto the stage, where a pair of podiums had been set up. My eyes darted around the room uncomfortably. Apparently my discomfort was visible, because the assistant asked,

“Do you need some water, Hanaka-sama?”. I shook my head with a slight chuckle,

“No, just a little claustrophobia” I said. Not necessarily untrue. He nodded understandingly, looking me up and down, 

“Ah, of course” he said, thinly veiled contempt on his face. I could see the badge on his lapel clear as day, he was a part of a prominent anti-beastmen group, so it made sense that he wouldn’t exactly like me because of my stance. The subject of this debate in particular was… somewhat sensitive, seeing as it related to beastmen.

My opponent stepped out a minute later, a slightly heavy set man, his suit appearing to struggle to hold his stomach in. This was the man who’d just stepped down from the position, and running for his second term. Ex prime minister Shiramizu. A flash of disdain crossed my face for a second before I forced my muscles to reset. In a political race such as this, it was important to maintain a straight face. I could see the news cameras dotted about the place in the darkness, the light reflecting off their large lenses. 

“Let’s hope this debate stays civil gentlemen” The ejudicator said once the red lights on the cameras blinked on. I forced a civil chuckle past my lips, 

“Well I don’t know about my opponent, but I intend of being civil as I can” I said. A cough sounded out from the audience. The ejudicator turned to my opponent, armed with a question. 

“Right. Candidate Shiramizu, how do you respond to the rumours surrounding the existence of humans buying young beastmen via the Yakuza?”. Both of us straightened immediately. This question was different. It didn’t seem… right. The usual questions tended to ask how we’d respond to certain problems, situations and so on. It also had… something of a connection to me. Shiramizu coughed,

“I have not seen any conclusive evidence-“

“I can confirm they exist” I blurted before I could stop myself. The ejudicator immediately turned to me, a perfectly done eyebrow raising in an arch. Out of the corner of my eye I could see my second-in-command’s eyes widening as she shook her head.

“Excuse me?” The ejudicator asked. I swallowed. Fuck. From what I could tell, I had 2 options now. Either come clean, or say I’m a liar. So far during this race I’d prided myself on my honesty during debates, and I could ruin myself if I said otherwise. I mentally flipped a coin.

I feel, at this point, that I’ve backed myself into telling you one of my secrets, reader. Several, in fact. The first would be that I am in fact, a beastman. I was also one of the first beastmen to run for office, as far as I knew. Also, I’d been in… service, to a vindictive human until 7 years ago, at which point I’d been freed via a police raid. I was one of her favoured… servants, thanks to my ability to fly. My down had also been used in several pillows when I was younger. She’d also been tempted to take my eyes for herself, at one point. But she decided they were more valuable in my skull.

If you haven’t guessed, I’m an owl. A Eurasian Eagle Owl, specifically. I know, you wouldn’t exactly get Eurasian from my name and appearance, but that’s how the coin falls. Speaking of coins, that coin flip’s come back. And it’s fallen on the side of exposure.

I sighed, “I said. I can confirm that they exist, seeing as I was…” I tried to force the words past my throat, but they just… weren’t coming. My mind was in turmoil as the ejudicator watched expectantly. 

“Seeing as you were?” I couldn’t bottle it up anymore, but the bottleneck just wasn’t relenting. My eye started to twitch, my knuckles white as I gripped the podium’s edge. I swallowed again. I could feel my beastial form starting to claw at the borders of my mind, I had to calm down before a panic attack could grip me fully. My eyes hardened before they turned crimson, and in a rush of blackness my skin and hair turned to feathers, my arms turning to wings, specially commissioned suit sleeves falling away at the shoulder (you try wearing sleeves with wings), tail feathers bursting out from under my blazer. Shocked gasps rushed throughout the room as my head darted to look into each of the cameras, my wings crossed on top of the podium.

“Seeing as I was in one of them until 7 years ago” I said, voice clear in the microphone. I could clearly see my reflection in the man’s glasses, the horn-like feathers above my eyes standing up fully. My glare across the sea of faces dared anyone to speak up. “I was liberated during a covert police operation.” I added calmly, smoothing down my feathers. It was then that the jeering started.

“Beast!”

“Animal!”

“Go shit off a tree!”

“Someone pluck ‘im!”. At this point, my security intervened. Rushing in from the side came the woman who’d been privy to all my secrets so far, another beastman, or rather, beastwoman, Michiya Okada. She was a leopard, only difference was that she was known to be a beastwoman. She shifted and escorted me off stage, my talons making small scratches on the stage. 

“What the hell were you thinking Fukuru?” she hissed as she hurriedly escorted me through the halls.

“I panicked!” I said defensively. “You think I could ignore a question like that?”. She sighed,

“No, I know you” she admitted. It helped somewhat that she’d been on the police squad that had rescued me. Once I got onto the political trail I sought her out, apparently she’d been fired for her beastman status, so I picked her up between jobs.

“We should probably get you back to the bus before the humans start a riot” said the man coming up next to us. A hulking giant of a man, a bull by the name of Taigen Tsumiko. He was my campaign manager, and yes, I had been interviewed several times on the amount of beastmen on my staff. I managed to keep the answers ambiguous every time.

“I can fly if need be, I’m more concerned about the rest of the crew, is everyone else ready to go?” I asked him, maintaining my pace and direction even as I turned my head to look at him.

“It’s been a while since you flew” Michiya reminded me. My feathers puffed up a little, the comment visibly disgruntling me.

“you don’t forget something like flight” I shot back. “I’ll keep my phone on me if push comes to shove, just make sure you don’t do anything to get arrested”. I made sure to catch both their nods before turning back to the path in front of me, only to see my campaign bus with its door open, my PR manager looking around nervously, in full-on deer-in-the-headlights mode, his antlers knocking into the sides of the porthole a little as he beckoned us over.

“Well on the good side, you’re blowing up” he said, snapping his fingers at our driver, the door sliding closed, the first humans starting to filter out of the hall. I went over to the window and got a good look at their faces, devoting them to memory. 

“What’s the bad side?” I asked Kisho, the deer.

“It’s mostly hate groups. There are a few pockets of support, but your approval ratings are… dropping like a stone” he said, tapping on his right antler as I knew he tended to when he was nervous. I closed my eyes for a second, I needed to calm down. Besides, when I get all ruffled it just makes me look massive, at which point nobody takes you seriously because you’re like a ball of feathers screeching every once in a while. It was admittedly difficult to calm down with three peoples screaming around you. 

“I’m going on the roof for a little, I need quiet” I said, just loud enough to hear before jumping up and out of the sunroof. Once I landed I sighed and sat down, massaging my temples to try to not listen to the screaming downstairs. I heard something hissing over the sound of the engine a few seconds later. My eyes snapped open as an arrow whizzed through the window beneath me. I dove in front of the window, looking backward at the shocked and stunned faces that greeted me, 

“Keep the arrows!” I ordered before turning my head back and taking in what I saw. Following behind us was a pickup truck, 2 heavyset men behind the wheel and in the shotgun position, a trio of ballistae-type machines attached to the back. The middle one had fired, the other two were fully loaded. On the bikes, the left equipped with a crossbow, the other with a lead pipe. My mind raced through possibilities in a few seconds. I set my expression and suddenly slowed down, the vehicles racing toward me, I veered to the left, talons grasping, slamming into the chest of the crossbow-weilder, which, while it did impose a massive amount of force on my legs, I was used to harder impacts when landing, seeing as whenever I fly I tend to be in a hurry. The world slowed as I hit him, pushing off him for speed as soon as he was out of the seat. He was wearing biker leathers, the modern kind, which would doubtless protect his fragile body from the impact of the road, I used the force to springboard my feathery butt into the seat, making sure to keep my tail feathers out of the wheel, I couldn’t marvel at how low of a chance there was for that to have actually worked, I immediately accelerated in front of the bus, turning my head around to glare at them. Their faces were frozen in rictuses of horror as I slowly moved across their vision, the one with the lead pipe entering my field of view.

The bus suddenly rushed toward us, I barely managed to get the hell off the bike before the remaining biker slowed with impossible speed. With that same speed, the truck crashed into the back of our bus, the larger vehicle sustaining a massive dent with a horrifically loud crunching sound. Both vehicles had stopped, and a quick glance into the pickup revealed that the airbags had deployed. I could hear the drivers groaning, the biker merely turned back and sped off, presumably to pick up his friend. Michiya, Taigen and Kisho left the bus, looking around nervously in their human forms, relatively unknown to most humans. All three were bloodied, Kisho especially. He looked woozy, holding his hand to his head. I winced as I spotted one of his antlers on the floor of the bus.

“Get your ass to the nearest police station you see!” Michiya called, pulling her phone out of her pocket, “we need to get Kisho some medical help, but your safety’s most important here” she ordered as I perched on the corner of the bus.

“I can’t lay low forever” I reminded her, my ears keened for any other trucks following. 

“Look, there’s a… friend of mine some…” she sniffed the air for a second, “Five or six miles north, he works in the police station, just tell him I sent you and he’ll help” She ordered. “I’ll have some other friends of mine come pick up Kisho, take him to the most capable doctor in the area, Taigen says he knows a doctor in most of the places along this route”

“I’ll call as soon as I can” I promised, spreading my wings in preparation for takeoff.

“We’ll get through this Fukuru” Taigen promised, giving me a stern glare before I took off with hardly a sound.

I decided to fly close to the trees, mostly for the opportunity the foliage would allow me to disappear, the leaf-bearing trees zipping by under me, the barest sound of rustling leaves being the only marker of my presence. As I flew I thought, eyes boring into the horizon. I thought back idly to the last time I’d had to fly to escape something, or rather, try to escape. 

I was 16 at the time, the woman who’d bought me thought I didn’t know how to fly, but I’d been teaching myself in secret, using my night vision and nocturnal habits as opportunity, and I was ready. That night, I’d packed everything into a bag I’d found, and took off from the garden. The feeling of relief that came with flight was indescribable. It was liberating, a true taste of freedom. 

It didn’t last long. After just over a minute of flight, I found myself suddenly tangled in a net, unable to stop a screech escaping from my beak, forced to curl up as men approached and carried me back to the estate. Needless to say, she was furious. After that my feathers had gotten clipped for six months before I was allowed to pull them out to grow new ones, and a collar was placed around my neck, designed to shock me if I went beyond a certain range without permission. Even then it still tracked me. I became a messenger for her after that, forced to deliver packages of drugs and various other things to other Yakuza members.

I snapped out of my memories, a police station already coming into view. I touched down in the forest and reverted to my human form, sighing as I lamented the loss of my sleeves. I had spares on the bus but nowhere to put them, of course. I sighed as I ditched the blazer after some more thought, making sure I had taken everything out of the pockets before carefully folding it up and hiding. As I walked toward the police station something felt… off. A vibe, one might say. I stopped in my tracks, quickly glancing at my hands to make sure I hadn’t shifted again. Nope, still human. But still, something was wrong, somehow. 

“So this is where you’ve been hiding” was all I heard from a sickeningly familiar voice before I felt a flash of pain and fell unconscious, not even feeling myself fall against the grass underneath me.


End file.
